Casually Explained: Stand-up Comedy

yo this video is brought to you by expressvpn well everyone can imagine a stand-up comedian telling jokes on stage there are a ton of misunderstandings and lack of knowledge around what the profession actually entails as an example a little-known upside to stand-up comedy is that the earnings you make are entirely tax-free this is because there aren't any so if you want to do stand-up comedy the first thing you have to do is write your material which is the bits you'll be doing and the jokes you have in each bit now your material really is your

bread and butter and this is why 80% of your time as a comic is spent alone at home in front of a blank Word document trying to figure out what to say so people will like you it's basically middle school but with extra steps keep in mind you have to really watch out for when a really good joke comes too easily because then you've probably stolen it this is what comedians called a Schumer effect and it happens to even the best comics this happens to you the only real solution is to ask yourself is it

wrong to steal other people's work and then you change the words a little bit so next you have to work on your delivery or how you're gonna say the jokes this is one of the most important parts of comedy and I like to think of it like dominoes even if what you have to offer is objectively mediocre with good delivery you can still satisfy a room full of drunk people at its core having good delivery is all about doing your set with complete confidence that everyone's gonna laugh even if all your friends and family have

told you they won't a good trick is thinking of it as theatre and you're just acting out a character with complete commitment as a personal example one character that I've developed is what I'm doing now a very dry monotone slightly sarcastic voice that makes it sound like I don't want to live another day on this planet the way I came up with this character was by recording myself saying the jokes in a bunch of different ways playing them back and then deciding I'd just be myself so the final component of stand-up is by far the

most difficult actually doing it apparently some surveys have shown that the number one most common fear is public speaking and the number two is the fear of death and to those people I say why not both nevertheless is extremely normal to get anxious before going on stage and worrying that your nerves are gonna ruin your performance this happens just to remind yourself that your material isn't very good so you'll probably bomb anyway if it's any consolation many people say that the first time they were on stage they were so nervous it felt like they were

naked in front of everyone when you think about it your first time on stage really is kind of like you're doing first cam show you don't know how to act you don't know what to say you're covered with sweat there's a big black thing in your mouth and the only person watching is your uncle now one of the biggest fears of new comedians is getting heckled which is when someone from the audience yells something to interrupt the performance and one of the worst things you can do when you get heckled is apologize like I've seen

a lot of new comics make a handicapped joke or something a little distasteful and someone says hey I'm in a wheelchair and the comic is like oh my god I'm so sorry I didn't mean this is a mistake because then you lose your comedic license for the rest of the set a better response would have been wow I didn't realize man why don't you come up on stage and we'll talk about it and then everyone will think you're really compassionate until they get to the stairs now when you finish your routine and the audience member

is done clapping hopefully the manager will say here's enough money to get drunk with the service industry guys in standup this is called the honeymoon phase because was as good as it's gonna get but also because you end up with a distorted view of reality the next day you'll go and tell someone about how you got wasted after your first real stand-up gig and they'll say I'm sorry to hear that and you'll be thinking wait what I thought that was cool but then you can't quit you become addicted to the rush of performing the high

of getting an audience to laugh stand-up permeates the rest of your life whether you want it to or not every school or office presentation suddenly becomes your stage you prepare material for every date in order to hone your craft you study the work of your most successful contemporaries all until one day you finally get the call and it's all paid off you're rewarded with respect from your peers and your legacy lives on forever in the world of comedy but until then smash that like button leave a comment hit subscribe and ring the bell to get

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